Trying to Remove Router from Network but Can't Connect Without It

[SolidEnnis]

I'm trying to remove my router from my home network and connect my computer directly into the line coming into the house. I'm doing this to, among other things, run some tests to evaluate the impact of my router on my bandwidth.

However, removing the line seems to be causing problems. Everything is fine when I'm behind the router, but once I unplug the line from the router and plug it directly into my computer, I can't connect to the internet. I get a "limited or no access" error on my Local Area Network. Once I reconnect the router, though, everything's fine.

I've tried several things. I've tried turning off the Windows Firewall to no avail (I have no other firewalls on my computer). I've checked to make sure that "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" are checked, which they are. I ran ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew only to receive the following error:

"An error occurred while renewing interface Local Area Connection : unable to contact your DHCP server. Request has timed out."

I'm running Windows 7 behind a Linksys WRT54G router. My line is (I think) fiber-optic, since there's no modem anywhere in the house, just a small beige termination box. I've posted dumps of ipconfig /all with and without the router. What do I need to do to get online without the router? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Barman58]

first off let me say that I doubt that you are getting significant degradation on you bandwidth due to your router, unless you have a very old type router and a very fast internet connection.

Most modern routers will give at least 100 Mb/s wired and 54 Mb/s wireless so unless your internet bandwidth exceeds this there should be no degradation

next some router 101 which you may or may not know

a router is in two halves one is the LAN Connection which is your Local side - Either wired or Wireless
The second half is the WAN side which is the wide area Network - In most cases the Internet.

Just as with a wireless connection to the router from a PC you need to set-up a password and other parameters you need to do the same with the WAN side.

If you check the router set-up screens you should see a page relating to the WAN side, this may well require a username and password and a protocol setting, in many ways this duplicates the old dial-up set-up. In order to take the router out of the loop this WAN set-up must be duplicated in the PC.

 

[Barman58]

A quick look at the ipconfig for direct connection would suggest that you have to manually add the default gateway, and dhcp server addresses manually - this information may be in the WAN set-up screen in the router or may need the username and password to enable the auto configuration to work

 

[rraod]

In your ipconfigNoRouter.txt, there are no IP addresses assigned for Default Gateway and the DNS Servers. These three Public IP addresses are important in getting the internet access.

When you connect the Router, the router is configured to automatically extract this information from your internet service provider. Whereas your DHCP client is not getting these values.

You can get the DNS addresses from the ipconfigWithRouter.txt file. If you can enter in to the router's configuration menu, probably you may get the default gateway IP also. Otherwise you have to get this address from your internet service provider.

You have to enter them manually in the IP configurations of the network card connected directly to the internet to get internet access.

 

[SolidEnnis]

Well, when I ran a series of bandwidth tests behind my router, it said I was only receiving 1.9 Mbps download, which I know is far below my ISP's average (one site suggested it should be at least 5.4 Mbps). I know that most people usually don't get an optimal connection, but this seems almost substandard, so I wanted to see what impact the router would have.

I'm familiar with the basic concept of a router, but I'm not quite following how to configure my DHCP on my computer. Exactly what information do I need to add, and where does it go?

 

[Barman58]

the setting need to be entered in the device config for your Ethernet card [open Network and Sharing centre, and you should see a link to the adaptor settings on the left hand panel] - you need to edit the IPv4 protocol settings to add at least the gateway, DNS, and DHCP addresses.

direct connection without a router or a modem as yours appears to be will always be complex as you will likely need to also set-up a dial up connection using the correct protocol to pass the log-in parameters to the ISP

 

[SolidEnnis]

the setting need to be entered in the device config for your Ethernet card [open Network and Sharing centre, and you should see a link to the adaptor settings on the left hand panel] - you need to edit the IPv4 protocol settings to add at least the gateway, DNS, and DHCP addresses.

direct connection without a router or a modem as yours appears to be will always be complex as you will likely need to also set-up a dial up connection using the correct protocol to pass the log-in parameters to the ISP

So from what I'm hearing, it's difficult to connect to a direct internet line without some piece of technology (a router or modem) sitting between me and the internet. It seems to me that there was a time when we didn't have a router, so I'm guessing that we had some settings on our computer that went away when we got the router. (Reaching back that far into my memory, that sounds familiar.) It sounds like doing a direct connection will require either a) moving some settings from my router back onto my computer, or b) contacting my ISP. It's really too bad, though, that a router can't just be a piece of simple plug-and-play technology with any type of network connection.

 

[Barman58]

I know what you mean....

In most ways the router is a simple piece of plug and play hardware,simply connecting two networks.

Where things get complicated is where one network is free and under your control and the other is chargeable and under someone else's control, most of the problem settings are those that allow access to the ISP's network and revolve around ensuring that only users who are paying for the ISP's service get access to it

 

[logicearth]

It seems to me that there was a time when we didn't have a router, so I'm guessing that we had some settings on our computer that went away when we got the router.

Nope, we had this thing called a dialup modem, just like you have a modem now to connected to the internet. The router only brought with it a means to have a private personal network on your end. Normally the modem would connect to the computer and that computer alone would have internet access. Having it connected to a router allows one to share the connection a lot easier with other computers, and be a lot more protected.

Anyways, you need a modem that allows being directly connected to the computer, either via USB or network cable which ever it allows. You'll have to ask your ISP if you got the modem from them.

** I seriously doubt the router is affecting your connection speed, I had the very same router for many years.